God’s presence in the home

Tonight, as I continue to preach through Proverbs, I shall be looking at some of those verses which deal with domestic life. There are numerous ‘domestic’ verses, covering everything from nagging to discipline of children and wisdom.

Historically, the  church seems to have swung on a wild pendulum as far as home life is concerned. At one end of its arc the home is a fortress, a private place where all manner of abuses may take place behind the closed front door. Here, it would seem, is off limits to God’s presence. At the other end of the pendulum’s arc are the worst excesses of heavy shepherding, where a church leader holds the front door keys of a church member, and may arrive at any time to perform some kind of spiritual spot check’. Where should we be with all this, I wonder?

In my researches for the sermon, I kept coming back to the image below. You can buy it online as a tapestry, a an engraved plaque, a free-standing wooden carving, or even a ‘wall decal’. Personally, I find it a little creepy – more ‘Big Brother’ than loving father.

Image:word.com.au

There are so many things to be said on this subject. I have chosen to focus on the four areas below. Would love to know what you would add to, or subtract from, the list?